Just when you thought the race between Democratic Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman couldn’t get any nastier, it did.

At a debate Thursday evening at a San Fernando Valley-area community college, the two incumbents got in each other’s face, with Sherman putting Berman in a bear hug and shouting, “Do you want to get into this?”

While the congressmen stopped short of fisticuffs, the confrontation was heated enough that a police officer arrived on stage to separate the two. 

Both campaigns were quick to recognize that the confrontation would be the story from the debate. 

 “At a debate in front of local college students Congressman Brad Sherman loses his mind and acts like a bully. This speaks directly to his temperament that is totally unsuitable for anyone, especially for a member of Congress,” said Brandon Hall, senior advisor to the Berman campaign, in a statement. 

In response to the Berman camp’s release of a video clip from the wild debate, the Sherman campaign released its own video clip of the lead-up to the confrontation, which featured Berman accusing his foe of being “delusional.” 

“The Pierce College debate was not conducted at the highest level. I regret my part in allowing emotions distract from the exchange of views,” said Shermanin a statement. “I agree with Howard Berman’s closing statement at the Thursday debate: ‘We are in a heated and expensive race. It’s become a very emotional race. We [each] think that when smears are made, and when untruths are said, a person has to defend himself and that raises the intensity of debate.’” (MORE)